Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Idaho
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Idaho Project

Effectiveness of Forest Restoration Treatments on Demography of a Federally Listed Ground Squirrel

July 2012 - February 2025

Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • US Geological Survey
  • Idaho Department of Fish and Game
  • Idaho Department of Fish and Game 
  • US Forest Service
  • US Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Idaho Department of Fish & Game
  • US Geological Survey 

Fire suppression over the past century has caused widespread changes to the structure and function of coniferous forests in the western U.S. Forest restoration efforts to reverse these changes must ensure that restoration prescriptions will not adversely impact federally listed species. Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels are federally threatened and have a very small range in central Idaho. We are comparing the effects of 2 forest treatments on Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels : 1) mechanical thinning followed by a fall-season burn (past prescription used by USFS); and 2) no treatment (control). We are using a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) design with field sampling >5 years prior to treatment and for >4 years post-treatment. The project is a collaboration between USGS Idaho Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game. The results will help determine whether thinning and fire treatments can be used to improve habitat suitability for Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels.

Research Publications Publication Date
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, and D. E. Biggins. 2020. Flea sharing among sympatric rodent hosts: implications for potential plague effects on a threatened sciurid. Ecosphere 11(2):e03033. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.3033 February 2020
Goldberg, A.R., C. J. Conway, D. E. Biggins, G. Burak, and D. Evans Mack. 2018. Yersinia pestis, fleas, sylvatic plague, and persistence of a federally threatened ground squirrel. The Vector 12(1): 2-7 March 2018
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, and G. Burak. 2020. Winter versus summer habitat selection in a threatened ground squirrel. Journal of Wildlife Management 84:1548–1559. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.21936 August 2020
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, D. Tank, K. Andrews, D. S. Gour, and L. Waits. 2020. Diet of a rare herbivore based on DNA metabarcoding of feces: selection, seasonality, and survival. Ecology and Evolution 10:7627-7643. doi: 10.1002/ece3.6488 June 2020
Presentations Presentation Date
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, and D. Evans Mack. 2014. Why are Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels so Rare? Joint Annual Meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society and the Northwest Section of The Wildlife Society, Boise, ID. 4 March 2014. March 2014
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, and E. Yensen. 2015. Why have populations of Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels declined? Annual Meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Pocatello, ID. 10 Mar 2015. March 2015
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, G. Burak, and D. E. Biggins. 2016. Effects of sylvatic plague on Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels. Annual Meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Coeur d' Alene, ID. 23 Feb 2016. February 2016
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, G. Burak, and D. E. Biggins. 2016. Effects of sylvatic plague on Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels. Annual Meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Coeur d' Alene, ID. 23 Feb 2016. February 2016
Goldberg, A.R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, G. Burak, and D.E. Biggins. 2017. Effects of sylvatic plague on northern Idaho ground squirrels. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists. Moscow, ID. 22 Jun 2017. June 2017
Goldberg, A.R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, G. Burak, and D.E. Biggins. 2017. Effects of sylvatic plague on northern Idaho ground squirrels. Annual Meeting of The Wildlife Society. Albuquerque, NM. 26 Sep 2017. September 2017
Goldberg, A.R., C.J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, G. Burak, and D.E. Biggins. 2018. Effects of sylvatic plague on northern Idaho ground squirrels. Third Annual USFWS Science of the Service Symposium. Portland, OR. 17 Apr 2018. April 2018
Goldberg, A.R., C.J. Conway, D. Evans-Mack, and G. Burak. 2017. Effects of microclimate change on Northern Idaho Ground Squirrel hibernation. Annual Meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Boise, ID. 2 Mar 2017. March 2017
Barbosa, S., K. Andrews, A. Goldberg, D. Singh-Gour, B. Bosworth, P. Hohenlohe, C. J. Conway, and L. Waits. 2019. Landscape genomics of adaptive differentiation in two sister species of Idaho Ground Squirrels. Joint Meeting of The Wildlife Society and the American Fisheries Society, Reno, NV. 1 Oct 2019. October 2019
Barbosa, S., K. Andrews, A. Goldberg, D. Singh-Gour, B. Bosworth, P. Hohenlohe, C.J. Conway, and L. Waits. 2019. Landscape genomics of adaptive differentiation in two sister species of Idaho ground squirrels. Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Boise, ID. 21 Mar 2019. March 2019
Garrett, M., S. Barbosa, K. R. Andrews, A. Goldberg, P. A. Hohenlohe, C. J. Conway, and L. Waits. 2020. Evaluating genetic diversity and distinctiveness of Northern and Southern Idaho ground squirrel populations using adaptive and neutral loci. Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society. Moscow, ID. 11 March 2020. March 2020
Theses and Dissertations Publication Date
Goldberg, Amanda R. Apparent survival, dispersal, and abundance of black-tailed prairie dogs. M.S. thesis, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 2012. February 2012
Goldberg, A.R. 2018. Diet, disease, and hibernation behavior of northern Idaho ground squirrels. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID. Dec 2018. December 2018